Start-up of biological waste treatment plants: degradation behaviour, methane formation and safety of plants
In Germany in the years 2000 to 2005 plant capacities for the mechanical and biological treatment of waste have been built, which fulfil the latest legal requirements of the German regulations and standards for the storage waste in landfills and the protection against emission from MBT plants of the year 2001.
The realisation of Mechanical Biological Treatment (=MBT) plants for the treatment of residual wastes in Germany according to the requirements of 30 BImSchV (Federal Immission Protection Ordinance) and AbfAbIV (Abfallablagerungsverordnung - German Ordinance on Environmentally Compatible Storage of Waste from Human Settlements and on Biological Waste Treatment Facilities (in brief in the following: Landfill Ordinance)) is finished. Most of them are now in the status of regular operation (Doedens et al. 2007).
The treatment of separately collected biowastes in Germany is momentarily subject to adjustments considering plant conceptions as a consequence of the tightening of additional requirements for the construction and operation of plants and the increasing attractiveness of the use of the energy potential of wastes.
Actual concepts for an optimisation of the treatment of biowastes and the improvement of the capacity of compost plants are comprising the integration of encapsulated intensive decomposition or more and more anaerobic digestion in already existing plants, respectively the new construction of separate digestion plants. The constructional standard of plants with an annual capacity of >10.000 Mg/a will approach in some parts the standard of MBT plants (in-door solutions/ encapsulation of plant parts, exhaust air collection and exhaust air treatment via acid scrubbers and biofilter) (Lahl, 2008).
In the course of start-up and trial and regular operation of biological waste treatment plants a great number of experiences had been collected. Among others there are degradation behaviour and the time flows of the biological processes, their effects on the technical equipment and plant safety. The start-up and operation characteristics in large-scale plants are described herewith. In particular the reasons and effects of methane formation during biological waste treatment in aerobic and anaerobic treatment steps and measures for an improvement of plant safety will be described.
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